Murals for Garland District

History has long inspired art, and a group of students in Spokane is using local stories to inspire its own masterpieces: murals in the Garland District.

“I saw an ad in the newspaper, and I thought it looked interesting,” said Kelsey Cline, a senior at Mt. Spokane High School.

Cline was one of a handful of students at the Garland Theater recently scanning historic pictures and newspaper clippings into a computer. Students also write captions to go along with the pictures.

There are pictures of the interior of the theater, as well as pictures of the marquee advertising movies from long ago.

Natalya Lapteva, also a senior at Mt. Spokane, came along with her friend Cline.

“I like the old stuff,” said Lapteva, “Everything old that you don’t see that often.”

The group took a tour of the 635-seat theater and learned that the technology needed to show a movie in the 21st century isn’t much different than it was when it opened in 1945.

All of this hard work will be used for the Inland Northwest Memories Project, a division of the Inland Northwest Community Access Network. The project is an online museum of Spokane history, in photographs, artifacts and oral histories. The students will take what they’ve learned and help design and paint murals in the Garland District.

Since the project has been under way, organizers have discovered that many businesses and local storytellers are not only willing but excited to share their memories of the neighborhood.

Ferguson’s Café usually closes at 2 p.m., but the owners have agreed to let the students in after they are let out of school.

“That’s wonderful when businesses can do that,” said Nora Lollar, the INMP director.

Lollar is enthusiastic about what the kids are learning as well.

“When they find out why the streets are named what they are,” she said, “then it becomes their community.”

Once the students have collected these stories and pictures, they will discuss what they’ve learned with artists from Tinman Artworks, 811 W. Garland Ave., and will help design the murals.

Sue Bradley opened the gallery three years ago and fell in love with the neighborhood.

“It’s really nice to have a business up here,” she said. “The character of the neighborhood has its advantages.”

She thought of ways to revitalize the area and help with business development.

“What a great boost it would be to get murals on the walls,” Bradley said.

She started by getting a mural up on the side of her building that celebrates diversity.

Now, although the final decisions of which buildings will be painted have yet to be made, she hopes to find buildings that are natural entrances to the district.

With help from a grant from Foundation Northwest, the idea of the murals project expanded to include the neighborhood’s history. The two organizations were also able to offer some of the student volunteers a small stipend paid in gift cards, or school credit for those that attend schools that require community service.

Bradley hopes to gather enough students to form five or six painting crews of five or six volunteers each.

The paintings most will likely get started in the middle of June, when the students have been let out of school for the summer and when the weather is nicer.

Until then, the project is also looking for more volunteers who are interested in sharing any historical items that might be hiding in their basements or attics.

If you are interested in sharing your stories, call Lollar at 744-0972.